Power decreases loneliness through enhanced social support: The moderating role of social exclusion

Power and loneliness are two important research topics in social psychology, yet remaining in separate streams of literature despite the potential relationship. To fill this gap, the present research systematically investigates how, why, and when sense of power affects loneliness. We pro-pose that sense of power decreases loneliness, and that this effect is mediated by perceived social support and moderated by social exclusion. In a set of two studies, the hypotheses received convergent support. Study 1 was a survey study, which showed that sense of power was positively related to perceived social support and negatively correlated with loneliness. Furthermore, Study 2 used an experimental approach to provide causal evidence for the effect of power on loneliness, and to test the moderating role of social exclusion. This research contributes to the psychology literature on power, loneliness, and social exclusion.